The Ragged Haori: Shed no Tears
by Grinning Fox
Summary: All things must come to an end. Decades after the Winter War, a decade after the unthinkable had occurred, Yachiru deals with the death of Kenpachi Zaraki. Now a woman and the captain of Eleventh Division, can she cope with the pain? - One Shot


**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. They are property of Tite Kubo, ect.**

**Happened to be listening to AMV's (not really watching them) as I wrote this and noticed it felt easier to write it to Breaking Benjamin's Unknown Soldier. So if ya want, listen to it to help set the mood.**

**Story was inspired by a picture linked in my profile. Yachiru.**

**Enjoy and fill free to comment at the end.

* * *

  
**

All things must come to an end.

Before the eyes of death there are none that are truly immortal.

The only truth of life is that eventually all will die.

But….it still seemed impossible to believe that _he_ of all people could be brought down. His vary name stated that he could never die no matter how much he was cut and stabbed. It just seemed impossible to think that he of all men would die; and yet…

It had happened.

It had occurred years ago but eventually the strongest of all captains died on the battlefield.

Kenpachi Zaraki had been struck down.

She wanted to be happy for him…he died with a grin and died as a warrior, but why then did it still tear at her years after? Was it because he had been like a father to her? Maybe that was the case…

She quietly looked at the ragged haori in her hands as she sat up in bed. The first rays of day's light were creeping over the horizon, turning the gray skies slowly to a blue. Today was his birthday…

A tear fell down her cheek as she drew the haori close and held it tightly to herself, "Ken-chan…"

The day wouldn't be pleasant for her, but she would try her best to make a smile as she always did. Ever since Ken-chan's death she had stopped smiling. There didn't seem to be anything to smile about. What was there to be happy about when the halls of the barracks were no longer filled with that ominous presence of Kenpachi Zaraki? She missed his devil-like grin and the way they would bicker about directions. She missed watching Ken-chan fight and how he'd laugh even if he was taking numerous cuts.

That…

That was how Kenpachi Zaraki went down; laughing hysterically even as his life left him. He didn't die alone though, he wasn't the sort that would die without taking others down with him. The death of Zaraki had a deep affect over all of the squad, leaving it in uncertainty of just what would occur to it.

Oddly enough, it had a staggering affect over the whole of the Seireitei. It seemed surreal for the other captains to think that Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, the demon, could actually be killed.

A knock came at the door of her quarters and she glanced over from her futon, brushing aside her pink bangs. "Hmm?"

"Hey…Yachiru, ya gotta get ready for that meeting." It was Ikkaku.

Most had assumed he would take charge of the squad as its new captain. He had the capability with knowing bankai, even if that was a secret; but he chose to refuse it. Eventually after much debate, Yachiru was appointed captain by the secondary style of promotion, six captain recommendations plus three more of the remainder to make a majority vote.

Yachiru had blossomed into a young woman since the war against Aizen ages ago. She had grown to a decent height of hundred and fifty-six centimeters (5'2") with a slender figure and a decent bosom. The usual warm, bubbly smile that had graced her features when she was younger had long since disappeared into an emotionless expression.

The pink-haired captain nodded to herself as she set the haori to the side on her futon and moved to stand up, drawing her shitagi close around her, "thank you Ikkaku…"

On the other side of the sliding door, the bald man winced at the use of his name. He should have grown use to Yachiru addressing him by his name as she had been doing so after Kenpachi's death, but…it just didn't feel right. As he pushed back up to his feet and walked away from his captain's private quarters, he thought back on better days.

Days of running at the side of that towering Kenpachi whose grin looked like that of a jackal. A younger Yachiru clinging to the captain's haori as she rode off his left shoulder, and Yumichika on the captain's other side. Those days and the strange nick-names Yachiru once gave everyone seemed like a distant memory in the mind of an aged man.

Ikkaku sighed as he glanced up toward the sky and the few clouds lingering in it. "Man…just never thought it would happen…"

"You're telling me." The bald man glanced over at the now third seat officer of the squad, his friend Yumichika. The flamboyant man tossed his hair back and offered a smile. "Is she alright?"

Ikkaku moved to cross his arms but paused when his fingers brushed against the badge strapped around his left arm; his lieutenant's badge. That shouldn't be on him, it should still be on Yachiru with Zaraki still alive. "Yeah…as decent as any of us are."

"I know what you mean Ikkaku…it's been ten years and it still feels impossible to believe." The smile faded into a slight frown.

"It's hardest for her though. You know how the captain treated her."

"Yeah. It didn't need words to be understood. It truly was a beautiful relationship of father and daughter…"

The two stood in silence as they continued to watch the clouds drift by in the sky. It was like a bad dream they couldn't wake up from…

* * *

The meeting had gone by rather quickly, but then again she really hadn't paid attention to whatever was being discussed. Things had certainly changed with the Court Guard Squads since when she was little.

Shuhei Hisagi had become the captain of Ninth Division after finally accepting to take the captain's proficiency exam. Momo Hinamori had matured since the Winter War and became the captain of Fifth Division, finally pass the problems brought on by Aizen's betrayal. Rangiku had achieved bankai and became the captain of Third Division, though it seemed she still was getting yelled at by Captain Toshirö Hitsugaya.

Toshirö. He had actually achieved some growth and wasn't the small, white-haired kid he had been back then. His hair was still cut mostly the same though it had grown some. He certainly had filled out his small frame into that of a man.

Yachiru found herself lost in thought once more, as she always was these days when a hand clasped down gently on her shoulder. She turned to see a pair of grey eyes staring down at her amongst a jovial smile. "Hey Yachiru-chan."

Captain Shunsui Kyöraku. Eleventh and Eighth Divisions had always been friendly with one another if only over the sake of saki, but it was a friendship that became important when Captain Zaraki had died. It was Shunsui who had been there when she needed someone to talk to. He was always a strange man who drank far more often and far too much then he should, but he proved wiser then he let on.

This man she had once called Shun-Shun had become a friend to her, one of the few if the only person she found she could confide it beyond Ikkaku and Yumichika.

She tried her best to put on a smile as she brushed aside her bangs, but she knew her attempt would look blatantly forced. "Captain Kyöraku…how have you been?"

"Mmm…as well as I ever am, but how I am isn't important. What about you?"

"I'm fine…"

"Even given the day?" He arched a knowing brow as his smile faded slowly. "Yachiru-chan, I know you're still feeling it."

"I-I don't know…what you're talking about Captain Kyöraku…" Her gaze drifted off to the side as she moved to release herself from the light grasp on her shoulder. "Excuse me Captain…"

Shunsui sighed softly as he tipped his hat back with a flick of a finger against the brim. "She's upset, isn't she?" Shunsui's gaze drifted lazily to the left to see his long time friend standing there with a worried expression over his pale face.

"Yeah." The captain of Eighth Division returned his attention back to the fleeting figure of the slender captain in the ragged haori. How surreal it was to see that haori on a petite woman rather then the broad shoulders of the massive Kenpachi Zaraki; it didn't seem real.

"She'll be alright Shunsui. These things take time, but she will pull through."

"Ya think?"

A smile graced the pale face of the often sickly captain who nodded. "I know it. She was raised by him after all. She really is like his daughter when you think about it."

That notion returned the smile to the gruff face of Shunsui who pulled his hat back down in place. "Yeah, you're right."

* * *

Screams rang out as corpses went flying through the air.

A rather large scale attack had occurred on the outskirts of the Soul Society with Hollows having made a pass through the Dangai Precipice World. Seeing the attack as a chance to really rev up the squad, Ikkaku had convinced Yachiru to lead the attack on the Hollows before any other squad could arrive.

While the squad was handling the fighting, Ikkaku and Yumichika were sitting on a dune with Yachiru who was quietly watching the fighting below. Her zanpakutö sat tucked into her white sash and her arms crossed. She had a faint look of contemplation as she watched her men struggling to handle the fight below.

"Well this is certainly an ugly sight…Captain; you really should get into the fight."

"What's the point…"

Ikkaku and Yumichika exchanged mortified looks at Yachiru's statement. "Captain? The men need you to boost their morale!"

She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. "We'll all just die eventually…"

That wasn't like the Yachiru he knew. Ikkaku could feel frustration building in him at how depressed the young woman was acting. Where had the bubbly young girl that enjoyed watching her captain fight go? Where had the child that was unfazed at the sight of death and blood run off to? He had had enough of this.

Yumichika was shocked when his friend grabbed their captain by the collar of her kosode and lifted her slightly off her feet. Yachiru was forced to open her eyes and stare in confusion at Ikkaku's forward action.

"Listen here Yachiru, how can you keep going around moping? Huh? Do you think the Captain would have wanted you to do this? That wasn't how he raised you, that wasn't how he led any of us!"

She could only stare at the man before her in shock as his words bit deep into her, shaking her to the core.

"You out of anyone should know just how Kenpachi would have wanted you to be after he died. He would want you to be strong and be happy that he died a warrior's death. He didn't die some a coward or as some old man, he died the way he would have wanted to; fighting to the very end and protecting the most important thing to him."

"What…was that?"

"You…" Ikkaku was shaking now, his body being racked with emotion as he struggled to contain it. He hadn't the strength to hold onto Yachiru's collar and set her back down, but instead grabbed the hem of her haori. "You were the most important thing to him, Yachiru."

He was right…

She could just hear the man who had been the only family she knew, the man who had been like a father to her, scolding her right now. He had given her the name of the one person he had respected in his life and here she was being a coward, shaming both the name she was given and the man who gave it to her.

Bitter tears ran down her cheeks. She felt so ashamed of herself for being so weak when she should have been carrying herself strong for herself, the squad, and more importantly the memory of Kenpachi Zaraki. She was pathetic.

"_What the hell ya think you're doing standing there ballin' your eyes out?"_

Her eyes shot open. It seemed everything around her had frozen still. A faint jingle was coming up the hill and with it came the massive figure of the man she had just been thinking about; that sadistic looking grin missing from his face but rather replaced with a scowl.

"K-Ken-chan…"

"_What the hell is wrong with ya Yachiru? Did the little girl I found so long ago that laughed at the sight of blood on my blade forget herself?"_ He shifted his nameless zanpakutö from one shoulder to the other.

"I…I'm so sorry Ken-chan…I've been horrible to your name…to my own name-"

"_I don't give a shit about excuses. Did I make excuses when Ichigo beat me?"_

"N-no, but Ken-"

"_I became stronger! Didn't I teach you to always seek to become stronger? Didn't I teach you to forgo pain to push on ahead?"_

"Y-you did Ken-chan…"

"_So why then are ya crying still? Ya ashamed of me for having finally met my match?"_

"No, never! I was so proud that you died the way you wanted to Ken-chan!" New tears began to roll down her cheeks as she trembled. "I always have been proud of you Ken-chan…I just….I just-"

She had adverted her gaze from that of the massive man, but she felt surprise when he drew her close into an embrace. Her eyes wide, Yachiru looked up to see a smile on Kenpachi's face. It wasn't the blood-lusting smile she knew him for, not that battle-seeking grin he would wear, but rather…a soft smile; the smile of a father comforting his daughter.

She had only seen such a soft expression on Ken-chan's face under the rarest of circumstances, but this time it moved her to tears as she buried her face into his chest. She clung tightly to the hems of his ragged haori as he slammed his zanpakutö into the dirt beside them to free his hand to rest on the young woman's head.

"_Yachiru, we both were people without names and that was what bonded us. I gave ya the name Yachiru because I wanted ya to bear the name of the only person I ever respected in my life. I know I never told ya who that was, but you've always made me proud."_

"I can never live up to be who you were Ken-chan."

That grin returned to his face and with it she felt comfort as her tears stopped.

"_Now that's a load of shit. You're my Yachiru, you are me. I'll always be in your heart, squirt. Now show em how fighting is done."_

She nodded, and as she wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks everything around her seemed to return back to motion.

"Yachiru?" Ikkaku asked with concern on his face. "You okay?"

She nodded curtly before looking up from the grass below their feet toward the Hollows just down the hill. Yumichika and Ikkaku felt something shift in the air and smiles creased their lips as Yachiru walked past them, her blade sliding from its pink scabbard.

"I'm just fine…because I'm Kenpachi Zaraki's daughter, Yachiru Kusajishi." With that she dashed forward down the hill, blade gleaming in the setting sun.

Ikkaku and Yumichika grinned as she drew their own blades and gave chase to follow their captain, a nostalgic feeling washing over them for the briefest of seconds as old memories returned of such a similar time long ago.

"Such a beautiful sight."

"Yeah…"

As the three ran into the midst of dust, corpses, blood, and Hollows…

As their blades danced in the air and sent blood flying with the cries of Hollows washing out the sounds of soul reapers dying, Ikkaku could see a smirk on Yachiru's face that reminded him of Kenpachi Zaraki and yet felt genuinely unique to Yachiru.

"That's our captain…Captain Yachiru Kusajishi."

* * *

**Hopefully you enjoyed and hey, leave a review. They help feeeeeeed us writers.**

**Until next time...**

**-Grinning Fox  
**


End file.
